Online Metronome

A metronome for practice and recording. The live metronome plays straight away with an accented first beat and optional eighths, triplets or sixteenths, and follows tempo changes while it runs. The click-track mode makes a file you can play here, loop, or download into a recording app or DAW. Both are timed to the exact sample, so the beat never drifts.

How to use this tool

1. Set the tempo in BPM and the time signature.
2. Choose a subdivision and sound, and whether beat one is accented.
3. Live: choose "Live metronome" and press Calculate; change the tempo field while it plays; press Stop metronome to end.
4. File: set the length in bars or minutes and play or download the click track (WAV loops seamlessly).

Formula

Beat interval (ms) = 60,000 ÷ BPM · Track length (s) = bars × beats per bar × 60 ÷ BPM

In x/8 signatures BPM counts eighth notes, and in 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8 the start of each group of three gets a lighter accent. Clicks are placed at round(time × sample rate), so the error is under 0.05 ms per click and does not add up.

Example

At 96 BPM each beat is 60,000 ÷ 96 = 625 ms. Thirty-two bars of 4/4 take 32 × 4 × 60 ÷ 96 = 80 seconds; with eighth-note subdivision you hear 256 clicks.